Your Brand Shows The World Who You Are – Here’s How To Get It Right

21/06/18

Julie Walters, Business Development and Marketing Manager at the Welsh enterprise support specialists, Business in Focus, explains how careful branding of your business and its products is pivotal to positioning yourself effectively in the marketplace.

Unless you are in the business of branding, you might not appreciate the careful consideration that goes into creating the look, feel and the personality of a brand.

However, we are all influenced by branding, we recognise brands instantly and we all make assessments about companies and their products based upon their branding.

For some strong brands, we simply need to see their signature colour or font and we can name them – consider Cadbury purple, Virgin Media red, Easyjet orange, or the eBay, Google or Nike fonts.

Closer to home, here in Wales, any number of young companies are winning at branding, using their digital and physical branding to help them tell the story of who they are, in a subtle, but irresistible way.

Hiut Denim Co, Tiny Rebel and Hangfire Smokehouse’s branding speaks of youth, innovation, fun and informality. Meanwhile, Ty Nant spring water and

Penderyn Distillery’s branding conjures up a sense of quality, trustworthiness, provenance and heritage – even though these are fairly young brands.

Of course, branding isn’t just about making those within the business itself feel a sense of ownership and pride in the product – it is about helping you communicate with your audience.  For this reason, it has been important to us to engage our tenants at Cardiff Bay Enterprise Hub, during our mini-rebrand of the main entrance to our serviced offices and studios. In fact, we are looking at how we can promote our tenants via a presentation that will run in reception and inviting the tenant community to help us to name the new “chill-out” zone.

For businesses that are pondering their own branding, here are some important points to consider:

• Define the personality of your brand – if your product were a person, what three words would best sum them up?
• Assess the age, tastes and lifestyle habits of your target audience, as well  and what they aspire to
• Research the competition to see how customers respond to their brands
• Define what tone of voice your brand and business needs to use to chime with your company image, your audience and your products
• Use colours, fonts and a positioning statement which accurately reflects the personality of your brand
• Will your company name and branding be too restrictive if you decide to expand and add new product lines or branches?
• Don’t make decisions in a vacuum. Brainstorm with colleagues or trusted peers at an early stage in the process. Remember – once you have branded your business it is tricky to rebrand. Get the opinions of a focus group, friends, family, and your current customers, if appropriate

For further information or to view any of our available spaces please contact Elaine, Natalie or Gareth on 01656 868545 or email property@businessinfocus.co.uk.